Henrietta and Charlotte, three day-old Ameraucana chicks arrived Monday. While Ameraucanas may not be the most beautiful breed of chicken, they have a reputation for being friendly and they lay blue and green eggs, which totally sold us. I think it's okay to give them names since they'll be layers, not fricassee (as long as our housemate Mohamed doesn't get to them first: "Do no worry, Kelli, I will take care of them; I will see that they are fattened up...").
This is our second try at chicken-raising, our first with little chicks. Our former "flock" came to us fully grown, and we left them behind during our move from our suburban home to our new one downtown. Unfortunately, Henny, LouAnne and Junebug came to a sad end when a possum invaded their unclosed nesting box one night, and we decided to put the chicken-raising on hold for a bit. In our new part of town, John is more afraid of drunken frat boys (we live near downtown bars) stealing a chicken for fun than he is of wildlife. I wonder what kind of "design" he'll come up with this time.
Meanwhile, our little girls are in the family room growing up under a heat lamp. Baby chick care is fairly simple so far, requiring only a large box, backyard leaf litter, feed, water and the heat lamp (they are supposed to be at 95 degrees the first week, decreasing week by week down to 80, after which they can go outside). They're cute, tiny little things and I feel as amazed as any child when one climbs into my hand.
Always on the cutting edge, Gainesville has allowed two hens per family for many years. Now, all over the country, folks are changing their city charters to allow chickens and even pigmy goats. It's becoming quite a trendy thing to do; but more than that, I think it's also another sign of people wanting to be more connected to their food and to give their children a little more connection to the stuff of real life. Now we just need to disconnect Rudy the Corgi from his real life role of predator.
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